March 20, 2009

The day after

Fresh on the heels of the media storm ensuing the WSJ article on mainstream brownlining, life returns back to normal here at the Roughfisher Command Post. And with that, I bring you some fly tying porn.

Carp on the fly godfather John Montana, has recently been discussing with Wendy Berrell and I the merits of fly pattern coloration and its impact on our angling successes. They have traditionally fished a lot of olives, and in recent years have been switching over to the orange spectrum, specifically, using different variation of browns and oranges. John even is dabbling in the dark art of black with his montana carrot.

I've personally found success using reds, oranges and browns over the past few seasons, and it is apparent in the patterns I tie and fish. From the buffalo soljah, to the roughfisher swimming nymph, to the recent addition of the Lucille and Rotten. These auburn colored flies have proven to be more effective on the water than their olive colored brethren. About the only green patterns that can hold a candle to the pumpkin clan are the brighter green caddis patterns, like the sparkle yarn nymph. And of course, you've all recently witnessed the sheer deadliness of the all black; the Men In Black.

I'm a firm believer that fish key in on the silhouette of a pattern over color any day, especially during turbid or low light conditions. Here are a few redheads and some tungsten laced beauties for ya:

A group of guys and I did some testing on BRIGHT flies for trout this winter. We found that the brighter nymphs really did produce, some better than the drab natural nymphs we had been using. Most of the real bright flies seemed to produce a lot of reaction strikes, meaning they took them within the first second or two of the drift, taking them on what we think was nothing more than a reaction. We started adding spectramized and brightly colored dubbing "hot spots" in our natural flies, and you know what, we caught more fish. I think adding "hot spots", or using a little something to get the fish at least interested is a definite step in the right direction.

@Chris Interesting observations. Do you think it would be a successful technique for fish that rarely exhibit a reaction response though? I've fished brighter flies to roughfish before with nary a look. Maybe a re-evaluation is necessary at some point. I'll have to give it a try.

Roughfish aren't my forte, so I haven't tested to much with my hot spotted flys. But, from what i've seen from you, and other brownliners, it looks like you are using similar "hot spots". The flashy collars and spectremized dubbing has greatly improved my catch, and from the looks of your pictures, your flies are doing pretty good as well. It's just that little something that gets them to look, and the great presentation that gets them to take. I'd really like to hear how "hot spots" are affecting your catch. This is something that really interests me.

My real question is, do fish take things because they've seen them before, or are they taking things because they look like they MIGHT be apetizing.